The invention relates to an arrangement of at least two watches, to a watch separated from this arrangement and to a method for the manufacture of this arrangement, according to the preambles of the independent claims.
Over the past 30 years the manufacturing methods, appearance, intended use and social value of personally worn watches have changed. In earlier times the manufacture of watches constituted labour-intensive precision work, which had to be carried out by highly qualified personnel. Watches were mainly made from valuable, durable materials such as metal and glass. Thus, a watch, usually a mechanical wrist or pocket watch, was an expensive purchase, which was made only once or at the most a few times during a lifetime. The situation is now different. Plastics technology and microelectronics permit the inexpensive mass production of watches by less qualified personnel. The price for such watches is low. Watches are bought, collected and worn as fashion accessories. Therefore there is a great demand for watches having an original, ever-changing design.
Such watches constitute the subject matter of the present invention and, like a manufacturing method for such watches, will be defined in the independent claims.
The invention is based on the idea of creating, manufacturing and marketing an arrangement of at least two watches interconnected by connecting means. Watches within the arrangement are preferably separable from one another. This creates the possibility of separating the watches again at a later time which can be freely chosen by the owner and the use thereof in a random manner.
The connecting means can e.g. be formed by a single carrier element and/or by watch components such as the dial, cover glass and/or case or can be located on a carrier element. The carrier element can incorporate the dials, cover glasses or cases of all the watches. In a preferred embodiment the carrier element contains the dials of all the watches, the cover glasses being connected to a first surface of the carrier element and the case to a second surface of the carrier element. The dials, cover glasses and/or case are preferably made from plastic. The connecting means between at least two watches can be formed by additional elements and not by watch components. Such connecting means can e.g. be subsequently removed from the watches, so that the watches can be separated from one another.
The possibility of separating the watches from one another is preferably implemented by a preset breaking line between two watches within the arrangement. A preset breaking line can e.g. be implemented as a constriction or cross-sectional reduction and/or as a perforation in the connecting means. In this case the watches are separated from one another by being broken apart along the preset breaking point.
The arrangement of watches according to the invention can be one-dimensional in the sense that in each case one watch is connected to a maximum of two other watches. One-dimensional arrangements can e.g. be straight, which leads to a xe2x80x9cwatch (chocolate) barxe2x80x9d, from which the individual watches can be broken off. One-dimensional arrangements can also have a random curvature. It is also possible to have closed, one-dimensional (in the sense of the above definition) forms, e.g. a ring of separable watches.
The arrangement can also be two-dimensional in the sense that there is at least one watch in the arrangement, which is connected to more than two watches. Two-dimensional arrangements can be surface-covering and can e.g. comprise square or rectangular watches, which leads to a xe2x80x9cwatch (chocolate) blockxe2x80x9d or a xe2x80x9cwatch (postage stamp) sheetxe2x80x9d. However, non-surface-covering, two-dimensional arrangements are also possible, e.g. a xe2x80x9cwatch latticexe2x80x9d with vacancies.
To at least one watch of the inventive arrangement can be fitted fastening means. They make it possible to fasten the at least one watch and/or the arrangement, as a function of the intended use, to an article and/or to a surface, e.g. to a part of the body, an article of clothing, a bag, a piece of furniture, a vehicle, a plant, etc. Such fastening means are able to produce integral, friction or positive connections with the object and/or surface. Examples of such fastening means are bracelets, spring catches, plug-in fastenings, threading and hanging on means, adherable or adhesive surfaces, magnets, etc.
In the method for the manufacture of an arrangement according to the invention the carrier element containing the dials of all the watches, the cover glasses and the case are manufactured and the cover glasses and case are connected to the carrier element. The carrier element, cover glasses and case are preferably manufactured by injection moulding from plastic. The cover glasses and case are then preferably bonded and/or welded to the carrier element.
An advantageous method for the manufacture of a carrier element incorporating the dials of all the watches is known as xe2x80x9cin-mould labellingxe2x80x9d. In this a plastic film is printed with the patterns intended for the arrangement, placed in an injection mould and sprayed with plastic. An advantage of this method compared with the direct printing of the watch components is that for printing purposes it is possible to choose a particularly suitable film, i.e. which has good characteristics with respect to colour reproduction and fastness.
It is naturally left to the owner to decide whether or not to separate the watches. It is also conceivable to use the arrangement as such or as parts comprising several watches. This can e.g. be desirable due to the unusual, noteworthy appearance of several interconnected watches, or to set or read off different times on the different watches of the arrangement.
The invention makes available a hitherto unimagined range of use possibilities. The arrangement according to the invention, parts thereof or individual watches separated from the arrangement can be used as fashion accessories, jewellery, pendants, advertising gifts, notification, greeting, congratulatory, visiting cards, etc. There are no limits to the design of the inventive arrangement and its watches. The watches of an inventive arrangement can have the same or different forms or appearances. In addition, the arrangement according to the invention can be easily and advantageously manufactured, which makes it possible for less wealthy consumers to obtain such arrangements or watches and therefore take account of the rapidly changing fashion taste.